


The Red of the Rainbow

by im_the_king_of_the_ocean



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: F/F, Tumblr Prompt, also there's a pride parade, cause it's june, semi canon compliant, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:35:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24557011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/im_the_king_of_the_ocean/pseuds/im_the_king_of_the_ocean
Summary: Julia makes the ultimate decision between the future of her career as a governmental operative and her relationship with Carmen Sandiego.
Relationships: Julia "Jules" Argent/Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep
Comments: 7
Kudos: 203





	The Red of the Rainbow

On paper, the mission is a simple one.Despite everything, Carmen Sandiego still shows signs of having faith in one Julia Argent, agent of A.C.M.E..According to Chief, it is their duty to exploit this weakness in order to apprehend the super thief once and for all.

All Julia has to do is walk down a street alone and wait for Carmen to approach her (and ask for intel they’ve purposefully leaked out), much like she did in Stockholm.Julia just has to talk to Carmen long enough for Julia’s fellow agents to surround them.Then, when Chief herself gives the signal, the A.C.M.E. agents will move in for the capture.Carmen will be too overwhelmed by their numbers.She’ll have no escape.They’ll nab her. 

All thanks to Julia.

There’s no part of this plan that Julia feels remotely fine about.She knows she has a sworn duty to uphold as an operative of A.C.M.E., but the whole thing just seems _wrong_.Carmen has done nothing to disprove her belief that she only steals to prevent other thieves from doing so.To disprove the idea that she’s actually a good person.

Sure, there’s the hack Carmen did into A.C.M.E. itself, but she only accessed one file.One that was over twenty years old.And all she did was open and look at it before leaving the system completely untouched otherwise. 

Out of curiosity, Julia checked to see what the file was itself.She wouldn’t lie, it _was_ interesting to find out how A.C.M.E. originated.Yet, there was no intel readily available in the file to use in the modern day (granted, Chief’s name is good to have, but Carmen already proved she could track her without it).The whole thing didn’t make sense to Julia.There had to be more to the story than what they were seeing. 

Julia did some digging on her own.Privately.With her old Interpol credentials, and off A.C.M.E.’s servers.She found out the proprietor of the estate from the file to be one ‘Vera Cruz’, not Wolfe, the man Chief neutralized there.Cruz had died, which meant a dead end, but another lead quickly presented itself.A report of the estate’s financials revealed that one of their biggest expenditures over the past few months was for baby supplies.Formula, diapers, toys, the whole nine yards.In all likeliness, a child, an _infant_ , had been on the property before its destruction.

When Julia added that information to Wolfe’s connection with V.I.L.E., the fact that that child would likely be around twenty now, and Carmen’s Argentinian status, she’d begun to form a clearer theory on _why_ Carmen had gone after that file and only that file.

Julia’s only mistake had been going to Chief with the information.Julia hoped to show her boss that Carmen hadn’t truly attacked A.C.M.E., only gone looking for intel on her origins, which was understandable (at least in Julia’s mind).Carmen’s methods, sure, weren’t the best, but they could still try to work past that in order to work together.

Chief hadn’t been so openminded.Her response had been this sting operation, with Julia at its center, with false intel about the current location of Vera Cruz.Julia _would_ complete the mission successfully, Chief ordered, or she would be fired and blacklisted from every government agency on Earth (the consequences for doing such critical research in secret).

It’s either Carmen Sandiego or her career.Julia can’t walk away from this with both her relationship with the former and the latter’s future potential intact.She’s known that for a while and, though it pains her, she’s made her choice too.

Carefully, Julia walks down the street.Out of the corner of her eye, she’s already picked up a reddish-colored figure following her, which means the hard part is just about here.She turns a street corner and heads to her final destination.Julia slows her pace, not enough that the change is truly noticeable, but enough that Carmen can catch up to her by the time they’ve reached the designated spot.

Julia checks her watch.She has just under a minute.She stops at the intersection.She tilts her head to the right, so she can listen down the street.The parade is right on time.Julia smiles.Then, she inhales.

The parade and Carmen reach Julia together.The Pride parade doesn’t appear to notice her presence, or, at least, it doesn’t stop noisily making its way down the street.Carmen opens her mouth to address Julia, but her chance to speak is ripped away from her.

Just like she planned, Julia loops an arm around Carmen’s waist, pulls her close, and jumps forward.The chaos of the parade sucks them in and whisks them down the street with it, leaving A.C.M.E., and the trap, behind with no way to really catch up.

It helps, Julia supposes, that the bright red of Carmen’s hat and coat fits right in with the multitudes of colors surrounding them. 

Realizing that she’s given the super thief zero explanation for her actions, Julia turns to her to begin.But, before she can utter a word, Carmen leans in and briefly presses her lips against Julia’s.The kiss comes and goes in less than a second, yet it still leaves Julia breathless in its wake.Sure, she’s _fantasized_ , but she never actually thought—what’re the odds that Carmen is even queer?

“Sorry.”Carmen chuckles at Julia’s starstruck expression.“I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now and, seeing where we are, it felt like a good way to say thanks for the assist.”

“You knew it was a trap?”Julia splutters.“But why—?”

Carmen makes eye contact with Julia and steadily keeps it.“You’re worth it, Jules.”

Julia stares back at her.After what feels like an eternity, but, in reality, is just a few minutes, she composes herself.“You are, too,” she answers.

“I’m glad.”Carmen smiles.“You had me worried there for a minute.”

Julia takes Carmen’s hand in her own and squeezes it.

Together, they ride the Pride parade off into the sunset.


End file.
